Arsenal vs PSV, Thursday 6pm, Europa League: Page 4 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Arsenal vs PSV, Thursday 6pm, Europa League

Sicario

Saka was unreal tonight bar his finishing and should have passed to Martinelli when the latter would have had a clear sitter.

Special mention to Xhaka. I still don’t like him but his energy levels are insane and work rate is second to none - the guy is a machine (touch wood).

Vieria was shocking and Eddie is over his purple patch. Quite concerning for squad depth issues.

Sambi was a 6/10 and the difference between him and Partey is like night and day.

Important win and 1 point in the Netherlands means we top the group.

P.S: Holding’s best game this season too.

P.P.S: Felt Nelson looked good in his cameo. Important we have adequate back ups to Saka/Martinelli.

est

Energy levels seem to be dropping a bit. Couple it with rotation/resting some of our big hitters and we're back to grinding out difficult wins.

Still, it is a mark of improvement that we still managed to win this and against Leeds.

We need to become more clinical with our chances, would make things a lot easier for us.

JazzG

goon wrote:

Margins look fine to me.

Sounds about right, while our performance wasn't as energetic as some we created enough chances to win this game a few times over.

Jed

Granit Xhaka, we’ve got.

Asterix

I liked this from Arteta after the game when asked if starting Saka was a bit of a gamble:

“Look at the top players in the world: they play 70 matches, every three days, make the difference and win the game,” he said. “You want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that. If we start to put something different in the mind of a young player, I think we are making a huge mistake. I want them to be ruthless every three days. There’s no fitness coach in the world that is going to tell me they cannot do it, because I’ve seen it. The players that score 50 goals do not play 38 games in a season, it’s just impossible.”

I like how he is setting expectations really high - it's been a consistent message from him that Arsenal should think of themselves as a top top club.

KingslandBarge

Thats a positive drive, nice. Still, bit of a squad depth disaster in January, fresh in memory. Some may say he left the rising young stars out to dry.
Saka has comparable net mins to Sterling, Salah, bit more than Foden atm. Nelson and Marquinhos fit for rotation. All seems ok. Plus Saka's season is heating up proper. The team can evolve to his image and beat.
Nice pick out from Tomi for the goal today. Somebody's always pitching in with the difference to continue this run. Happy days.

invisibleman18

They need to get used to playing twice a week if we want to not disgrace ourselves in the CL anyway. If we do make it to the CL next season, surely we'll be playing the strongest team when we're playing Real Madrid and Ajax in midweek.

Claudius

invisibleman18 wrote:
They need to get used to playing twice a week if we want to not disgrace ourselves in the CL anyway. If we do make it to the CL next season, surely we'll be playing the strongest team when we're playing Real Madrid and Ajax in midweek.

Pretty much. Good players play high minutes.
The only player I think we will manage is Partey. And his minutes at Atletico were also managed. Within and between games, he rotated with Saul and Koke in the key midfield positions. So we need our own Koke or Saul to support him and Xhaka

Anzac

https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1686200/Live/Europe-Europa-League-2022-2023-Arsenal-PSV-Eindhoven

https://www.football365.com/news/arteta-praises-mature-arsenal-win-talented-psv-promising-saka-update

https://www.football365.com/news/arsenal-1-0-psv-sweet-xhaka-finish-sees-gunners-pass-tough-european-test-flying-colours

Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven Highlights | 2022-23 | UEFA Europa League

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/arsenal-psv-saka-xhaka-tierney-25316640

HomeSteak

We really need a DM in January, we simply cannot get to a stage where Lokonga plays week in week out in the PL. I wonder if we can get that brazilian kid, they said they would sell in January. And maybe we have to look at a back up striker. I like Jesus and he is great...but still, we need more goals just to be sure and I feel we need a type B kinda of player. Someone different then both Jesus and Eddie, tall, strong, someone we can change it up a bit when needed. No idea who the hell we can get...

Qwiss

Lokonga is a good player but I don't understand why the club are so insistent that he's a 6.

goon

There was talk in pre-season that he’d be played as an 8 this year, but that went out the window when Elneny got injured.

Pepe LeFrits

Yeah, I don't think it was intended that he'd play this role this season. I would like to see him getting a run of games in Xhala's role before casting judgement

Claudius

Pepe LeFrits wrote:
Yeah, I don't think it was intended that he'd play this role this season. I would like to see him getting a run of games in Xhala's role before casting judgement

He has to be flexible. With Elneny's injury and Partey's fragility, this is what he has to do.
Xhaka is robust and routinely delivering MotM performances, so little need to throw Lokonga out there.

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